In Memoriam of prof. Bogdan Przemysław Liberek


Bogdan Przemysław Linerek
Prof. Bogdan Przemysław Liberek
(1926 - 2018)


With deep sorrow and sadness we inform you that after a long illness Bogdan Liberek, Professor Emeritus at Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdańsk, Poland, passed away on December 22, 2018 at the age of 93.

Bogdan Liberek had rooted from the lab of the pioneer of polish peptide chemistry, world renowned late (†1982) Dr. Emil Taschner. He got M.Sc. in 1950 and Ph.D. degrees in 1958 in Taschner’s lab at the Faculty of Chemistry, Gdańsk Technical University. Subsequently, in 1964 he got habilitation in the same Faculty, after which continued his career creating a scientific group at the University of Gdańsk (UG; Pedagogical Academy till 1970), where in 1971 and 1979 he acquired tenured and full Professor ranks, respectively. Together with his brilliant colleagues in Gdańsk, Warsaw, Łódź, Wrocław, Opole and other locations he contributed to the establishment of polish peptide chemistry schools and was one of the founders of the Polish Peptide Community (PPC). Besides PPC, Prof. Liberek was a member of the Polish Chemical Society, Polish Biochemical Society and European Peptide Society. He was a visiting professor at Oxford University (1965-6) and the University of Ottawa (1984-5).

Professor Liberek served in his mother schools as a deputy Dean (in Faculty of Math-Phys-Chem of Pedagogical Academy, 1967-70), deputy Head to Scientific Matters of Institute of Chemistry UG (1987-91), he worked in the Senate and other collegiate committees of UG and served as a head of Graduate School in Chemistry (1975-78, 1981-84 and 1985-87). He co-organized X European Peptide Symposium in Gdańsk (1978). Simultaneously, he was also a head of a Chair of Organic Chemistry (1966-70) and consecutively of the Department of Amino Acid and Peptide Chemistry (1970-94).

Main subjects of scientific interest of Prof. Liberek were peptide synthesis, racemization, stereochemistry. He was an author of numbers of papers. He promoted around 100 M.Sc. students and 11 Ph.D. students of whom 3 became professors.

Professor Liberek’s academic and scientific contributions have been recognized by many awards and honors from science societies, local communities and the State as well. He was a mentor and friend to many of us. He is greatly missed by all who knew him for his scientific perfectness and a nice and honest personality.

Contributed by Jerzy Ciarkowski and Aleksandra Kołodziejczyk